Totally confused about how to fill out the Capital Loss Carryover Worksheet
I'm struggling to make sense of this capital loss carryover worksheet in TurboTax. Last year I sold some stocks at a loss (about $4,300) but now I'm trying to figure out if I can use that loss this year. The form is asking me for numbers from last year's return that I can't find anywhere. Do I need to go back to last year's forms? And how much of my loss can I actually use this year? I thought you could only deduct $3,000 per year but I'm not sure if that applied to my situation last year since I had some small gains too. The worksheet is confusing me with all these lines asking about adjusted gross income and whether I need to file it with my return. Any help would be really appreciated because I'm completely lost!
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Chloe Robinson
You're on the right track about the capital loss carryover. The basic rule is that you can deduct up to $3,000 in net capital losses against your ordinary income in any tax year. If your net losses exceed $3,000, the excess gets carried forward to future years. For the Capital Loss Carryover Worksheet, you'll definitely need last year's return. Look for your Form 1040 Schedule D from last year - that's where your capital gains and losses were reported. The specific lines from last year's Schedule D are what the worksheet is asking for to calculate how much of your unused loss can be applied this year. Since you mentioned having a $4,300 loss but also some small gains last year, what matters is your net position. If after netting your gains and losses you still had more than $3,000 in losses, the excess would carry forward to this year.
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Diego Chavez
•Thanks for the explanation! So if I had $4,300 in losses and $800 in gains last year, would my carryover be $500? ($4,300 - $800 = $3,500, then $3,500 - $3,000 = $500)? And do I need to attach the worksheet to my return or just keep it for my records?
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Chloe Robinson
•Your calculation is exactly right! With $4,300 in losses and $800 in gains, your net loss was $3,500. Since you can only deduct $3,000 against ordinary income in any tax year, you'd have a $500 carryover to use this year. You don't need to attach the Capital Loss Carryover Worksheet to your tax return - it's just a working paper to help you calculate the correct amount to enter on this year's Schedule D. Keep it with your tax records though, as it shows how you determined your carryover amount.
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NeonNebula
After struggling with my own capital losses last year, I found this amazing tool at https://taxr.ai that literally saved me hours of frustration with my carryover calculations. I uploaded my previous year's return and current year documents, and it automatically extracted all the relevant numbers from last year's Schedule D and filled in the capital loss carryover worksheet for me. It even explained which numbers went where and why.
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Anastasia Kozlov
•Does it work with returns prepared by an accountant? I used H&R Block last year but am doing my own taxes this year, and I'm completely lost trying to find the right numbers.
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Sean Kelly
•I'm a bit skeptical about these tax tools. How does it handle unusual situations? I had some wash sales last year that complicated my loss calculations.
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NeonNebula
•It absolutely works with returns prepared by an accountant. You just upload last year's completed return (the final PDF), and it can extract the relevant numbers regardless of who prepared it. The software is designed to read the official tax forms, not the prep software. It handles complex situations like wash sales really well. The system recognizes these special cases and adjusts the calculations accordingly. I actually had a disallowed loss from a wash sale last year too, and it correctly factored that into my carryover amount. The explanations it provides helped me understand why certain losses weren't immediately deductible.
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Sean Kelly
I was really skeptical about taxr.ai at first, but after struggling with my capital loss carryover for hours, I finally gave it a try. Wow - it pulled all the right numbers from my 2024 return and showed me exactly what to enter on this year's forms. It even flagged that I had calculated my carryover wrong last year! My situation was complicated with multiple trading accounts and some wash sales, but it handled everything perfectly. Definitely going to use it for all my investment-related tax questions going forward.
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Zara Mirza
If you're still struggling with getting answers about your capital loss carryover, you might want to call the IRS directly. I know it sounds painful, but I used https://claimyr.com to get through to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. There's a great video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. They called the IRS, waited on hold, and then called me once they had an agent on the line. I was able to get a definitive answer about my complicated capital loss situation from an actual IRS employee.
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Luca Russo
•How does this actually work? Do they somehow have a special line to the IRS or something? Seems weird that a third party could get through faster than I can.
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Nia Harris
•This sounds like bs honestly. I've called the IRS like 6 times this year and never had to wait more than 30 mins. Why would I pay someone else to call for me?
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Zara Mirza
•They don't have a special line - they use technology to continually redial and navigate the IRS phone system for you, which saves you from having to do it yourself. Once they have an agent, they connect you directly to that person. It's basically like having someone wait on hold for you. I used to think the same way, but your experience isn't typical at all. Most people report wait times of 1-3 hours, especially during tax season. Even the IRS admits their average wait time is over an hour. The service is for people who value their time and don't want to be stuck listening to hold music for hours.
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Nia Harris
OK I have to eat my words. After posting that comment, I tried calling the IRS again today about my capital loss carryover question and was on hold for TWO HOURS before giving up. Decided to try Claimyr out of desperation and got through to someone in 20 minutes. The agent was super helpful and explained exactly which lines from last year's return I needed for the worksheet. Turns out I was looking at the wrong form entirely! Worth every penny just to get a clear answer from an actual IRS person.
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GalaxyGazer
Just wanted to add that the capital loss carryover worksheet gets easier once you've done it once. I've had losses to carry over for the past 3 years (bad investment choices lol). One tip: keep a spreadsheet tracking your total losses and how much you've used each year. Makes it way easier than digging through old returns every time.
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Mateo Sanchez
•Do you track short-term and long-term losses separately in your spreadsheet? I've heard they have to be tracked and carried over separately.
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GalaxyGazer
•Yes, you absolutely need to track short-term and long-term separately! The IRS requires you to maintain the character of the loss when carrying it over. In my spreadsheet, I have separate columns for short-term and long-term losses, and I keep track of how much of each I use each year. The reason this matters is that short-term losses first offset short-term gains (which are taxed at ordinary income rates), and long-term losses first offset long-term gains (which are taxed at preferential capital gains rates). The tax impact can be significant depending on which type of loss you're using.
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Aisha Mahmood
Does anyone know if TurboTax automatically applies your loss carryover from the previous year if you used TurboTax for both years? I swear it used to do this automatically but now I cant find where its pulling that data from.
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Ethan Moore
•Yes, TurboTax should import it automatically if you're using the same account and you have last year's return in your TurboTax account. You can check by looking at Schedule D - there should be a line showing your carryover from last year. If it's not there, you might need to manually enter your capital loss carryover.
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Bethany Groves
I went through this exact same struggle last year! The Capital Loss Carryover Worksheet can be really confusing at first. Here's what helped me get through it: First, you definitely need your 2023 tax return - specifically Schedule D and Form 8949 if you filed one. Look for line 21 on your 2023 Schedule D, which shows your net capital loss for that year. For your situation with $4,300 in losses, you're right that there's a $3,000 annual limit for deducting capital losses against ordinary income. So if your net loss last year was more than $3,000 after accounting for any gains, the excess carries forward. The worksheet asks for your prior year AGI to determine if you need to use the Capital Loss Carryover Worksheet or if you can use a simpler method. Most people with straightforward situations can just enter the carryover amount directly on Schedule D. One thing that tripped me up initially - make sure you're looking at your NET capital loss from last year, not just the gross losses. TurboTax should have calculated this for you on last year's Schedule D. If you can't find your 2023 return, you can get a transcript from the IRS website or call them. Don't stress too much - once you have the right numbers, it's actually pretty straightforward!
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Sean Flanagan
•This is super helpful! I'm dealing with a similar situation and was wondering - when you say "net capital loss," does that mean I need to subtract ALL my gains from ALL my losses first, or do short-term and long-term get calculated separately before netting? I had both types of transactions last year and I'm not sure if I should be looking at one combined number or keeping them separate through the whole process.
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